AATech is focusing on M&A and data centres to create a tech hub for the financial sector

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) – To continue along the path of acquisitions and focus increasingly on in-house software and data centres. These are the guiding principles behind AATech’s efforts to create “a synergistic technology hub offering innovative services to financial institutions in a secure, sovereign and efficient manner”, as CEO Alessandro Andreozzi explains in an interview with Radiocor.

Founded in 2019 with the aim of becoming a leading partner in the development of technologies, digital solutions and outsourcing services for banks, asset managers and “the entire financial services sector”, AATech went public on Euronext Growth Milan in 2023 with a turnover of 1.8 million. “After a couple of years of organic growth, during which we developed our solutions and doubled our turnover,” explains the CEO, “last year we embarked on a course of M&A strategy that led us to close 2025 with consolidated output value surging to €15.3 million (+329% on 2024)”. The group’s net loss stood at 2.49 million, a deterioration compared with the 0.14 million profit recorded the previous year, whilst adjusted EBITDA stood at 0.19 million (down from 1.2 million). Finally, net financial debt fell to 3.72 million, down from 4.53 million at the start of the year.

“Today, AATech works with ‘a significant number of banks and financial intermediaries, supporting them in all aspects of credit management,’ says Andreozzi, ‘from anti-fraud services to lending services’.” However, its business model has two distinctive features: applications and technologies developed by its own team and its own data centre infrastructure. “Two years ago, we became convinced that to capitalise on the world of AI and technological evolution, it was necessary to manage the data and own it,” says the CEO. “That is why we invested in three small data centres of our own.” Indeed, in order to “work with banks”, which must comply with precise regulatory requirements and have access to “privileged information” (such as bank statements or customers’ personal data), “it is necessary to guarantee a high standard of privacy, anonymity and security”, even when using a tool that has become “indispensable”, such as AI. The only way to do this, according to Andreozzi, is through “ownership of the infrastructure”. Furthermore, having ‘hardware entirely at our disposal’ also represents ‘a significant competitive advantage’ for AATech, because ‘it allows the company to break away from the world of traditional cloud services’ and, consequently, also to avoid the impact of geopolitical, commercial and technological tensions.

This could well be one of the driving factors propelling the company towards the targets set out in the 2027 Business Plan, which envisage, in particular, a turnover of between 18 and 20 million and an EBITDA of between 5 and 6 million. “At the moment, we are on track with what we set out to achieve,” explains Andreozzi, “and we are continuing to work towards these objectives,” thanks in part to substantial investment (Capex of between 15–20 per cent of turnover) with a specific focus on Research and Development. “Our priority is to ensure that the artificial intelligence we use is optimised in terms of resources, efficiency and responsiveness” and helps to “boost the productivity of our analysts and operators,” says the CEO, “whilst guaranteeing data sovereignty”.

The other key element at the heart of AATech’s growth strategy is M&A. Since 2025, the group has already made three acquisitions ‘in the credit sector’, explains Andreozzi, ‘thanks both to support from the banking system and to funds raised on the markets through two capital increases totalling around 3 million euros’. The most recent transactions were “the integration into our portfolio of the credit management services offered by the fintech firm Crescitalia” and that of “Ineo’s anti-fraud services”, both of which were finalised in June 2026. In fact, “we want to continue growing through external expansion, as well as through organic development,” says the CEO, “by acquiring companies in which we can invest and which bring added value”. In particular, AATech is looking “for companies that can bring to the group in-depth vertical expertise , but which is easily deployable” and “for those with already proven solutions, such as providers in the field of securitised credit management or anti-money laundering” in Italia. For the time being, however, the company’s focus is not on overseas markets: “For the next two years, we believe there is still a great deal we can achieve here (in Italia, ed.),” says Andreozzi. “We therefore plan to continue consolidating the Italian market over the next two years”. Then, should the conditions arise for a possible expansion abroad, “we will reconsider this in the next business plan”.